


An Intervention of Sorts

by Persiflage



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Holby City
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Breakfast in Bed, Crossover, Established Kate Stewart/Thirteenth Doctor (background), F/F, Flash Fic, Fluff and Crack, Kate Stewart and Bernie Wolfe are cousins, Mistaken Identity, Morning After, Mutual Pining, Resolved Sexual Tension, Teasing, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23092312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Canon Divergence forHolby CityandDoctor Who: Thirteen mistakes Bernie Wolfe for Kate Stewart, and in so doing sets Bernie right on the matter of a particular brunette.
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe, Thirteenth Doctor/Kate Lethbridge-Stewart
Comments: 10
Kudos: 72





	An Intervention of Sorts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bat_and_Breakfast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bat_and_Breakfast/gifts).



> This crack-y flash fic just fell out of my brain this morning. I'm sorry, I have NO idea what my Muse is smoking, but I wish she'd quit!
> 
> Gifted to Bat_and_Breakfast to make her feel better.

It’s a blessedly quiet morning on AAU, for once, and Bernie Wolfe is leaning up against the nurses’ station, talking across it to her co-lead, Serena Campbell, as she’s working at the computer when a blonde woman in an eye-catching outfit consisting of a navy t-shirt with a rainbow stripe across the middle, bright blue cut-off trousers held up by yellow suspenders, and a beige trench coat comes barrelling through the doors and rushes straight up to Bernie.

“There you are love. Listen – wait – what are you wearing?” 

Bernie can’t help glancing down at herself, taking in her usual uniform of dark blue Trauma doctor scrubs, then she looks back up at the blonde. “My scrubs,” she says, mildly confused by the randomness of the question, and also by being addressed as ‘love’ by a total stranger with a strong Northern accent. “Can I help you, Ms–?” She pauses expectantly, waiting for the woman to supply a name.

“Did you hit your head?” demands the woman, grabbing at Bernie’s wrist. “C’mon, we don’t ‘ave time for games.”

Bernie is startled, to say the least, when the woman, who’s both younger and a couple of inches shorter than herself, half drags her away from the nurses’ station.

“Hey,” she remonstrates in a quiet but firm voice, twisting her hand around and grabbing the blonde’s wrist. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The woman glares. “Kate Stewart, this is no time for silliness!”

Bernie gasps, then tugs the woman towards her, angling them both towards the consultants’ office across the ward. “You’re with me,” she says, then sends a quelling look at Serena, Fletch, and Donna, who’re all watching intently from the nurses’ station. Serena, indeed, appears to be about to follow her so she pins her co-lead in place with a glare. She knows her friend will most likely make her pay for that audacity, but if the blonde whose wrist she’s holding is who she thinks it is, then she doesn’t want anyone, least of all someone who’s grown as dear to her as Serena Campbell, to get caught up in whatever’s happening or about to happen.

She closes the door to the office, then pulls down the blinds for good measure. “You must be the Doctor,” she says, leaning back against the door, arms folded across her body.

The woman frowns at her. “You know I’m the Doctor,” she says. “Kate, did you bang your head? What’s going on?”

Bernie sighs. “I’m not Kate Stewart.”

“Of course, you are,” says the Doctor, jerking her head back and staring in disbelief.

Bernie shakes her head. “I’m really not. I’m Kate’s cousin, Ber–”

“Oh, of course!” exclaims the Doctor in tones of pure delight. “Major Berenice Wolfe of the RAMC! Although that doesn’t explain what you’re doing in an NHS hospital. Or why the TARDIS brought me to you instead of Kate.” She steps in closer. “You do look awfully alike, though.”

Bernie smirks. “I’ve kind of noticed,” she says, and the Doctor chuckles. 

“Rassilon, Bernie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a scene, you know.”

“It’s fine,” Bernie says. “I’ll handle it. Do you want me to call Kate for you?”

The Doctor shakes her head. “No time. I’ll hop back in the TARDIS and get her to locate her. She should be at the Tower in London.”

“Where did you leave your ship?”

“On the roof.” The Doctor slants a sly smile at her. “Want to take a look?”

Bernie can’t help grinning at the question. “Yeah. I mean, if you’ve got time?”

The Doctor snorts a laugh. “Time Lord, remember?”

Bernie fights back a laugh of her own, managing to subdue it into a chuckle. “Of course.” She straights up from the slouch she’s been maintaining against the door. “If you don’t mind, I think the easiest way to deal with this is to tell the others that you should be on the Psych Ward.”

“Course I don’t mind. Shall we?” The Doctor leans in, and surprises Bernie by planting a kiss on her face, right at the corner of her mouth.

“Wait,” she says, looking down at the alien woman. “Are you and Kate on kissing terms?”

The Doctor grins smugly. “Kissing and so much more,” she says enthusiastically, making Bernie’s cheeks pink with embarrassment. “We should organise a double date.”

Bernie frowns. “A double date? But I’m not dating anyone.”

The Doctor frowns in turn. “Really? Because that brunette out there was definitely looking daggers at me when you dragged me in here.”

“Serena?” Bernie says, startled. “Oh, no. No. She’s just a friend, and my co-lead. We run the ward together, so she was probably annoyed because I–”

The Doctor snorts. “She was jealous,” she says, cutting off what Bernie knows is a feeble explanation. “Trust me.”

Bernie shakes her head doubtfully, then moves off the door. “I’d better get you out of here,” she says. 

She’s startled when the Doctor throws her arms around her and hugs her tightly, but she hugs her back, if rather more stiffly than the woman in her arms. “Be brave, Berenice, like I know you can be, and talk to your friend out there.”

Bernie nods, although she’s not sure she’ll have the courage, then she and the Doctor let go of each other before Bernie leads her out of the office and across the ward to the stairs. She doesn’t want to wait for the lift in case Serena or someone else comes over and wants to talk. She feels it’ll be better to get the Doctor off AAU first before she offers up any explanations.

She takes a few minutes to inspect and admire the Doctor’s ship, feeling purely astonished at the fact that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside, then lets the Time Lord ( _Time Lady?_ she wonders) leave before she heads back downstairs. 

She realises that she does need to talk to Serena, and not just about the Doctor’s visit, but it’d be better to do it away from the hospital. And not at Albie’s either. They need to be away from prying ears and eyes for this conversation. Bernie finds herself hoping that Serena is free this evening, and that there won’t be any late shift trauma calls to prevent them leaving on time.

She catches Serena’s eye as enters the ward again, and the brunette immediately gets up and crosses to the consultants’ office to join her. 

“What’s going on, Major?” Serena asks immediately as they take their customary seats. “Who was that woman? And why did she call you ‘Kate Stewart’.”

“A case of mistaken identity,” Bernie says, which is the literal truth, fortunately. “I look very like someone she knows. She took some convincing, but I was able to take her upstairs in the end, so she’s off our hands.” Bernie is sure Serena will assume she means upstairs to the Psych Ward.

“Why did you bring her in here?” Serena asks.

“Because I didn’t want her causing a big scene outside and disturbing the rest of the ward,” Bernie says reasonably. “You saw her. Did she look like someone who’d do anything quietly?”

Serena chuckles. “I must admit that outfit was something else.”

“A very unique style,” Bernie agrees with a smirk. She’s planning on teasing Kate about that, the next time she speaks to her cousin. She glances at the clock on her computer, then says, “Listen, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Now?”

Bernie shakes her head. “No. It, uh, it’s a bit of a personal matter.”

“Albie’s after work?”

She shakes her head again. “Come back to mine?”

Serena looks at her over the top of her monitor with wide eyes. “Yours?”

Bernie nods. “Don’t worry, we can stop for take away en route. I won’t subject you to my cooking. And I’ve got a couple of bottles of Shiraz on hand.”

“You’re my kinda gal, Major Wolfe,” Serena says, sounding happy at the prospect. “It’s a date.”

Bernie feels her face flush with heat and ducks her head, hoping it’s not too obvious that she’s blushing at the idea of having a date with Serena, even if she’s convinced that Serena doesn’t see her in that way.

SC-BW-SC-BW-SC

Bernie’s sprawled, half-asleep, across Serena’s very comfy bed when her mobile chimes with a new text alert. She swipes it off the nightstand and finds herself grinning when she’s the text from Kate:

_I gather you met my – girlfriend I suppose._

_We’re both grown ups, Katie. You can call her your ‘lover’._

She gets a string of emoji back, some of which she cannot decipher, but the middle finger that finishes the string is readily identifiable.

 _What are you, 5?_ Bernie teases.

_Don’t call me Katie. You know I hate it. It’s patronising._

Bernie chuckles as she taps out a reply. _Okay. The Doctor seems like a very kind, if rather eccentric, person. I enjoyed meeting her._

_She liked meeting you, too. Said so repeatedly until I suggested she pop back to Holby and collect you to assist her._

_Jealous much?_ Bernie can’t resist teasing Kate a second time, after all, it’s usually the other way around.

 _And how *is* your love life, Berenice Griselda Wolfe?_

Bernie snorts. _Burgeoning nicely, thank you_ , she retorts, refusing to elaborate, although she can’t help feeling grateful for the prod in the right direction that the Doctor had given her. She checks the time on her phone, then adds, _Get to work, cousin._

_Same to you._

_I have a day off. *smug grin*_

_I hate you._

_No you don’t._

_Okay, no, I don’t. I’ll call you at the weekend and we’ll talk properly, if that’s okay._

_Yup. Have a good one. And stay safe._

_Thanks. Enjoy your day off._

_Planning to._ Bernie is adding a wink emoji just as Serena comes through the door with a tray in her hands, and she locks her phone, then tosses it back on the nightstand.

“I hope that wasn’t a trauma call on our day off,” her lover says, looking stern.

Bernie chuckles. “They wouldn’t dare. No, just my cousin catching up with me.” She takes the tray from Serena, holding it aside as the other woman slips off the silky bathrobe she’d donned to go downstairs in order to fetch them breakfast, before she slides back into bed.

The tray holds a plate of chocolate croissants, two napkins that Bernie would bet are actual linen, a large pot of coffee, and two mugs. 

“It’s a bit decadent,” Serena says, sounding almost nervous to Bernie’s ears, “but I wanted our first breakfast together to be special. And, well, it is our day off.”

“It’s perfect,” Bernie says. “Thank you.” She leans sideways and manages to peck a brief kiss at the corner of Serena’s mouth. It’ll have to do while her hands are full of their breakfast, but once her hands are free? It’ll be no holds barred snogging all the way. 

As she and Serena eat their croissants in a companionable silence Bernie makes a mental note to ask Kate to thank the Doctor on her behalf because without her intervention yesterday she doubts she’d have found the courage necessary to talk to Serena about how she felt about her. And now she knows their feelings are mutual, she feels a little giddy with glee at getting to be with the woman she adores. So Bernie definitely owes the Doctor for pointing out what she was too oblivious to see.

Once the coffee’s drunk and the croissants are consumed, she and Serena take it in turns to use the bathroom, then they snuggle in bed together again, both equally determined to make the most of the fact that their first day together as a couple is also a day off for them both.

“I’m glad you suggested we come back to yours instead of going back to mine yesterday,” Bernie says softly.

“Without wishing to offend you, so am I.”

Bernie pouts, earning herself a swat on the arm, delivered with a husky chuckle, then Serena kisses her, and she gladly succumbs to the distraction of that mouth and the luscious kisses it delivers.

 _Thank you, Doctor. I owe you one,_ she thinks muzzily.


End file.
